Complaints about regeneration issues
This fact sheet is aimed primarily at people who are experiencing problems with the way a council is dealing with regeneration issues in their area and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.
My council has failed to consult over its regeneration and improvement plans, my property has not been included in its current schemes and I am unhappy that the council has done nothing to improve my area. Can the Ombudsman help me?
- Yes, in some circumstances, although we can’t overrule the council’s decision on whether a particular property or area should be improved. Nor can we say whether the council should provide assistance to carry out repairs or improvements or if a particular regeneration scheme or development should go ahead.
- If you believe that the council did something wrong in the way it went about deciding on a scheme and can also show that it caused you problems then you can complain to us.
How do I complain?
- If you have concerns about a regeneration or home or community improvement issue you need to let the council know as soon as possible giving details of your concerns.
- You should normally complain to the council first. Councils often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure and you will usually have to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint.
- Then, if you are unhappy with the outcome, or the council is taking too long to look into the matter – we think 12 weeks is reasonable – you can complain to us.
- You should normally make your complaint to us within 12 months of realising that the council has done something wrong.
- To complain to the Ombudsman phone our Advice Team on 0300 061 0614 (8.30am to 5.00pm, Mondays to Fridays). You will be able to discuss your complaint with one of our advisers. You can text us on 0762 480 4299.
- You can complete an online complaint form at www.lgo.org.uk/making-a-complaint, or you can email us at advice@lgo.org.uk.
If you can consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?
We consider complaints about councils’ administrative actions and what the consequences are. So if the council has done something wrong we look at what effect this had and what problems this led to for you. Some faults we might find are that the council:
- did not properly investigate to determine if improvements were required to a property
- failed to provide funding or assistance that according to its own policies or the law you are entitled to
- determined that a property was dangerous or in need of repair or improvement but failed to take action
- did not consult on, or inform you, about works that would take place that might affect your home when it needed to
- did not explain the outcome of its investigation to you, or
- made a decision based on inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant evidence or failed to consider evidence that was available.
What happens if the Ombudsman finds that the council was at fault?
- It depends on the fault and what the consequences are for you. For example, is the fault likely to have made a difference to whether a property would be built or improved?
- We cannot force the council to carry out improvements or make funding for this available and we cannot intervene to halt a programme of works that has been approved, even if the works cause nuisance to you, harms your enjoyment of your home or devalues your property.
- If we find that you are entitled to funds to carry out improvements or should have been included in a programme of works, we may recommend steps that the council should take to address the problem.
- If the council has allocated funds for improvements but you did not receive the funds that you should have, we may recommend that the council pay you the amount you should have received.
- If your property is in a dangerous state of disrepair, raises health concerns or has missed out on improvements that should have been carried out we may suggest that the council carry out improvements or repairs.
- If we find that you suffered for longer than you should have done, we may ask the council to pay you compensation for any additional inconvenience caused. We may also ask for compensation for your time, trouble or expense in pursuing your complaint.
- Where we find fault with the council’s procedures we will often recommend that the council introduces changes so that the same problem does not occur again in the future.
Examples of some complaints we have considered
Twelve tenants complained that a council twice broke its promises to demolish and rebuild their homes. The council recognised that the houses had become structurally unsound and began a programme of replacement but stopped when about half the houses on the estate had been replaced. The council could not restart the programme for several years by which time special funding was no longer available. The council arranged to fund the completion of the work itself. The tenants were told that their houses would be replaced within six months but just two later senior officers realised that the funding would not be available for at least another 18 months; yet no-one told the tenants. Eighteen months later the tenants were told that the work would go ahead and were even given notice that they should be ready to move in a week so that the works could be completed. The tenants packed some of their goods and lifted carpets from the floor and plants from the garden. However, a crisis in financing meant that the project had to be postponed again until available funds could be identified. This time the tenants were told of the problem.
We found that the council was wrong to tell the tenants to be ready to move without a contract being in place to ensure that the works would be carried out. We also found that the tenants had been misinformed, or not informed at all of matters that closely affected their day-to-day lives. They had acted upon promises that had been broken. We recommended that the council should pay £750 compensation each to the 12 tenants and keep them properly informed of future developments.
A council told Mr L that his block of flats would be demolished and he would have to move. When this happens a council normally pays tenants compensation for the disruption. Mr L was offered and accepted a property and was awarded £1,500 compensation the going rate allowed at the time for home loss payments. However, he later discovered that this amount had increased within a month of his move, but the council had not told him. Had he know this Mr L would have been able to move at a later date and would have qualified for a higher payment.
We found that the council failed to provide information that might have resulted in tenants making different decisions about when they should move. Mr L would have delayed his move if he had known the facts and so had lost out on a higher home loss payment of £3,100. We recommended that the council should pay Mr L compensation of £1,600 to reflect the lost payment, plus £200 for his time and trouble in pursuing his complaint. We also recommended that the council should consider compensating any other tenants in similar circumstances.
Other sources of information
Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please phone 0300 061 0614.
The Local Government Ombudsmen provide a free, independent and impartial service. We consider complaints about the administrative actions of councils and some other authorities. We cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. If we find something has gone wrong, such as poor service, service failure, delay or bad advice and that a person has suffered as a result the Ombudsmen aim to get it put right by recommending a suitable remedy.
Date Updated: 17/06/10